Cardiovascular disease remains the leading cause of death. What needs to be done to improve the situation?

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a major public health challenge throughout Europe, and particularly in Central and Eastern Europe. Here, cardiovascular health outcomes are poorer than in other regions of the continent. Lifestyle is largely responsible for this: smoking, physical inactivity and the epidemic of overweight and obesity. The key risk factors for CVD are hypercholesterolemia, hypertension and hyperglycemia.

Poland is one of the few countries in Europe to have implemented a strategy to reduce the number of heart patients and, as a result, reduce the number of deaths from CVD. At the core of the National Program on Cardiovascular Diseases (NPChUK) for 2...